her name. They marry at
Little Marcle church; not the church that stands now but one adjacent to Little Marcle Court.A page of Pyes
I am Keith Pye the England based half of the double act that brings this website to you. My interest in Herefordshire surnames derives mainly from my Pye ancestors who spring up in Little Marcle in 1789.
Benjamin Pye (or is it Pey?) was uncertain with his spelling as
he added his name to the marriage licence that joined him in holy matrimony to
the young Elizabeth Morley on 29 November 1789. Elizabeth, from Bosbury, is
aged 17 years and unable to write her name. They marry at
Little Marcle church; not the church that stands now but one adjacent to Little Marcle Court.
There is little visible trace of the old church now but I have been informed that it actually forms part of the current Little Marcle Court. It is only when the rafters are visited that any appearance of a church building is apparent. Also, a historical description of the old church records the nave as being 90 feet long and coincidentally the 'width' of the house is just that. Outside, a very few gravestones still survive. To the right is a pencil drawing of old Little Marcle Church.
Benjamin and Elizabeth's first five children are baptised at Little Marcle, the next six children at St Bartholomews in Munsley.
Elizabeth's uncle, Thomas Morley, makes a will dated 19 October 1807 in which he bequeaths to Elizabeth and Benjamin Pye the whole of his estate known as Paunceford, in the parish of Munsley. The will (of which I have a copy) is proved at Hereford on 30 April 1808.
It is from Benjamin and Elizabeth's fourth child, Jane Pye, that I am descended. Born in 1798, Jane has an illegitimate son, William, in 1824. On 9 September 1827 Jane dies at St Marylebone Workhouse, in Middlesex. In the Munsley parish accounts of 1830 William Pye is listed as a pauper receiving 2 shillings and 6 pence a week.
Benjamin Pye died in 1822 aged 57. His gravestone still
stands in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's in Ashperton, Herefordshire. It records only that Benjamin was "Late of Munsley". The memorial
also records the deaths of his sons, John, in 1818 and Thomas, in
1820.
In 1826 Elizabeth Pye, by then owner of Paunceford, remarries, to a James Chadney. Elizabeth dies in 1857 aged 85 years.
So where did Benjamin come from? Along with several other living descendants also interested in Benjamin we have been unable to trace his parents or birthplace. Why was his daughter, Jane, and her illegitimate son William, apparently disowned (Jane's mother was already pregnant when she married Benjamin) And why did Jane go to London after William was born, only to die in the workhouse there?
Anyone who can shed light on any of these questions, or just has an interest in the Pye families of Herefordshire, please contact me by email using the following link Keith
I will add more to this story, in between keeping the surname list updated.